Thursday 28 March 2013

Guest Designer at Lessology! {What's in your Toolbox? Challenge} GO! Layout - Glitz Design Color Me Happy





***My apologies here - I had to retrieve this post earlier this month before it had been seen by many people, & haven't had a free blog day to republish this again until now.  It's not too late to play though, you still have a couple more days!!***

Hello there!  I was lucky enough to be invited by my dear friend Yvonne Yam {who I had the infinite pleasure of meeting in the flesh earlier this year, in Singapore} to play Guest Designer on her uber-cool challenge site - Lessology - this month.

You can check out the site HERE and the challenge I played along with HERE - "What's in your Toolbox?". What you need to do is use something you have in your toolbox ON your project, or use something from your toolbox to create your project, and - as usual - include a recycled item on your project too.  

The prize this month is a $20 gift certificate from Blue Moon Scrapbooking, sponsored by design team member & wonderful gal, Julie Tucker-Wolek!!  So it's worth a play for sure!


I used 6 brass nuts, which incorporate a lot of trendy elements right now! 

 1)  They're GOLD   2)  They're HEXAGONAL   3)  They're METAL. 

My recycled element is the luggage tag you can see to the left of my layout, together with it's original string.  I left the original sticker with code & barcode on it.


I started my process by selecting my photo first, then my papers.  I chose the circular patterned papers around the border, based on the design on the photo.  I went with black cardstock because it's always dramatic & funky & I knew it would blend seamlessly with the photo background.

This photo is of my eldest son Jack & was edited by my youngest son Reilly, who has some pretty mad Photoshop skills :)


Before adhering the black cardstock to the patterned base I used a Ranger Paint Dabber in GOLD randomly around the edges of the paper.  

Next I made a couple of giant SPLATS on my black base {one of which I ended up almost covering up in it's entirity} although you can still see it peeking out under my clustered elements. 

 The top splat is still very visible and was achieved using Ranger PEARL paint dabber sprayed with water first then SMACKED DOWN straight onto the paper.  


Seeing as die-cut elements are so trendy & I don't own a Cameo I bought myself a couple of packs of pre-cut die-cuts & used them instead.  The white peeking out from under the photo comes from K & Co. 'Handmade' & the polaroid frames come from Studio Calico.


My sentiments come from a piece of paper from the new Glitz Design 'Color Me Happy' collection, as well as some paper offcuts from K & Co, American Crafts & some red glitter cardstock I've had for years. 

 The 'Ready, Set, Smile" card is from My Mind's Eye & I cut it in half and put the bottom piece below my cluster, making it look like one long card. 

The file tabs are from Pink Paislee Portfolio collection & the white thread is a cool & inexpensive way to add a crazy, free look to a page!  Gold Alphas are Thickers from American Crafts & the cool little ones are from Glitz Design 'Color Me Happy' Collection.

Hope some of you may be inspired to play along & join in!
I would be sooo happy if you did ;)




13 comments:

juscrap said...

Helen was beautiful! It's so nice to be able to use papers that are saved. And you were happy with your page because everything you do is always very good.xoxo

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Soooooo excited about you being our GDT!!!! I loveeeeeeeee your page!! LOVING the colors and loveeeeeeeeeeee that paint!!

ANUPAMA CHOUDARY said...

This is such a funky page, Helen! Adore the splats and the 'photoshopped' picture :)

FiKenward said...

WOW super cool page Helen, the photo looks amazing and you've created such a funky page to go with it... Love the brass nuts you've used and the big splatter of paint.

Chantal Vandenberg said...

Super funky page, Helen! Rockin'!!!!! :D

Lynette Jacobs said...

Very trendy and upbeat...love your layers.

Marjie Kemper said...

Congratulations on your Guest Spot! I really love how you mix different manufacturers' products and of course, the way you layer all the elements so beautifully. Wonderful details!

Marelize said...

Wow! This is so striking Helen! Reilly has done a fab job with the photo. Love it!
Have a wonderful Easter. xx

Elaine coustley said...

Great layout. I do love what you do. x

Denise Price said...

Love the idea for white splashes on a black background!

yyam said...

Thanks for being guest designer @LESSology. Love this funky graphic layout! :)

Denise van Deventer said...

Very cool layout....love the splats....great layering too, as always! Fabulous!

Eila Sandberg said...

Hear hear all of the previous ladies!! this is über cool and so fab!! like a piece of modern art! you go girl! xoxo